Bad Nana All The Fun Of The Fair by Sophy Henn

In this book Jeanie and her Nana go to the fair where lots of contests are taking place such as waggiest dog tail, prettiest pet etc only all the top prizes keep going to evil Georgina as her mum is the judge!

Filled with colourful pictures throughout to illustrate, Bad Nana is fabulous sticking up for her family and friends and is not to be reckoned with! I liked the fair and what happened with the cake contest at the end good old Bad Nana I can't wait for more!

Butter by Erin Lange

Nicknamed by school bullies after there was an incident involving butter, our protagonists nickname became Butter.

He plans to eat himself to death and posts online on a website he creates advertising his upcoming last meal. It's through this that the popular group at school start to befriend him and take him under their wing.

Butter also likes Anna, a girl whom can't see him for who he is as they talk online anonymously all the time making Butter fall for her more but in real life she has no idea it's him she's really talking to online...

As he battles with his feelings over friends, weight, food and family we see how it all results in his 'last meal' as he feels lost in life...

A touching book showing how deep out feelings can effect the world around us and the way we see things too. It was especially touching in how he feels alone and only included when expected to kill himself and shows how dangerous the wrong attention and influences can be.

Smart by Kim Slater

After finding a dead body floating in the river, Kieron
promises to find out whom was responsible for Colin the homeless man's murder as Jean a homeless women also helps him too a free Colin had been a kind friend to her.

It helps that his dream career is as a crime reporter like his idol off Sky News. He even gets a signed picture from him and has to hide it as his stepbrother destroys everything when he's not playing video games.

Though his home life is horrible, his grandma no longer in touch, he vows to find her and while his mum works all the time, his step dad hates him and he spends most of his time in his room sketching, inspired by Lowry creating art when he can.

His mum suffers domestic abuse from his stepdad, a lazy drug dealing thug whom doesn't even send his son to school, just letting him play video games all day long. So when things get interesting in his investigations, he finds a surprising new family member as well as revealing the true murderer.

This was a book that kept on giving when the story got gritty. I excited by the developments and the way he gets a family of true sorts back by his investigationinvestigation. A true young detective in the making he is indeed!

My Box Shaped Heart by Rachael Lucas

Holly has a tough time time in school as she gets bullies while Holly's mum is also a hoarder and so she escapes to the swimming pool for relaxation and to escape her and life. Cressi, a kind neighbour manages to allow Holly to be a swimming assistant and Holly is grateful to have an excuse to not be at home. However, her mum has a broken leg from falling in all the mess and when kind Cressi calls in to check on them both she helps clear the house and slowly the hoarding mess lessens so much her Mum even brightens up and goes to the doctors where she's to start CBT for depression, seemingly triggered by her breakup with Lauren's dad.

Allie and Rio are her two best school friends from school and often hang out with her and Allie later confides in them both that she's gay and later the trio attend a gallery where Allie tells them who her crush is.

Ed goes to the swimming baths to escape his abusive dad whom used to hit his mum until they got lives to a safe house where he hopefully can't trace them to. His and Holly's lives collide quite literally as they swim into each other by accident one day and proceed to see each other at the baths and their bus stop and when Ed gives her his number it's inevitable they start hanging out more and more as they escape their chaotic lives together.

Both Ed and Holly deal with tough situations forced on them thanks to their parents own issues. They found friendship and love in each other unexpectedly as well as giving them another reason escaping their parents drama was right for them as they shouldn't be expected to look after them. Cressi was a kind soul to step in and I commend the book for her character as she gave a more stable adult presence in Holly's life who took an interest in helping her grow as a person and encouraged her interests. It was a cute read as they find their bubble of combined happiness.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

The Art Of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

David secretly dresses up as a girl, he knows he's not actually a he inside. He is a girl born that way in the wrong body. He endures torment from Harry the bully at school who calls her a freak show. Still, Essie and Felix her friends and a couple themselves are always there for her, whatever the issue.

Then David meets Leo, born a girl and now a boy he himself knows the challenges all round the issue of being transgender. The pair face off Harry bullying but Leo has his own issues of navigating the love life unbeknown to him before. Alicia his friend wants more than friendship and wants to go to the Christmas ball together.

But as the pair have found each other at crucial times of their lives who knows what may happen between them as they head off on a specific journey to find someone, together...

A beautiful read about both sides of transgender transitions which is a great twist and highlights this book to be a good influence on the teens hopefully picking it up and becoming more open and accepting towards the issues around the subject.
A book full of inspiring characters for sure.

Bubble Wrap Boy by Phil Earle

Charlie is a teenage, Chinese boy whom lives his life as his parents only child, but overly protected still by his mum, the way she sneaks off and goes to evening classes all the time arouses suspicion in Charlie over where she really goes.

He wants to skate though despite knowing his mum would disapprove and he is very clumsy as well and when she finds out, the skate park kids and his best friend Sinus end up dubbing him bubble wrap boy after an incident.

Eventually, Charlie's mum's secret is out by accident and Charlie finds out why his mum is so overprotective of him and he can't blame her but he does want to help her as well as perform at the skate park event coming up.

The book deals with the effects of growing up in school and fitting in loosely while focusing on family secrets and parenting a lot. Charlie stands up for himself to prove to his mum mostly but his dad too that he can't always be protected from bad stuff that will happen as it's inevitable really to never expect it to happen.

It's uniqueness sells it to me as I truly enjoyed it and the developing mystery as you read on and untangle it!

We Own The Night by Ashley Poston

LD, Billie, Micah and Ingrid are best friends who know how to party hard when we meet them first.

The stoey focuses on Ingrid as we learn about her, she got into NYU for her future studies but stays at home being her grandma's carer.

Of the group, Billie and Ingrid are close, with him often talking about his dad with her. They also share a maze together as a hideaway as well as a tower pointing North alike Billie's nickname for her.

Yet, Micah and Ingrid kissed before and Ingrid likes him while he had a night with Ingrid's bully, Heather whom she has to endure working with at a sweet shop. He also wants to be in a relationship with Heather, making Ingrid ask her out for him which makes her feel even worse.

Ingrid escapes at night and hosts a midnight radio show under the pseudonym, Nightowl where she has a lot of talks with caller, Dark and Brooding.

Billie pushes her to apply for an internship she gets accepted into it until her grandma's Alzheimer's worsens and she cancels, until LD goes with her and Ingrid realises many things about her life, her future and her relationships.

An emotional rollercoaster for the character of Ingrid that keeps us reading for sure.

Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy

Alice's leukemia changed her life, even after splitting up with her boyfriend Luke, seeing her mum cheating on her dad and dealing with how childhood friend Harvey feels for her love wise.

Harvey was always jealous of Luke being her boyfriend until they split up and Alice enlisted him to help her get revenge on him by using photo evidence of a certain shock kiss.

A Year later from her diagnosis, she is still friends or possibly more than with Harvey at times, given their past shared kisses. Alice still has cancer until shockingly against the odds her body enters remission, allowing her hair to grow back and those closest to her trying to get her back on track into ballet and school which Alice doesn't care about. Instead, she begins to pull away from Harvey and grow closer to new guy at school, Eric.

Until Eric is leaving and Harvey found them together at hers. However, he goes on to date his best mate, Dennis's twin sister, Deborah.

But there's still hope for Alice and Harvey yet on holiday...

Throughout the story the bullying between Celeste, Mindi, Luke and Alice over what she caused them at school in terms of public humiliation. The group's revenge against Alice however takes a sick turn which is disgusting and horrifying, unimaginable to me how they could do such a thing to Alice after what she's been through already.

It was a shocking book to read but one I had wanted to get into for a while. The storyline was a serious one all round and certainly brought up issues that a wide range of people can relate to. The characters of Alice and Harvey to me seemed reversed and thus a good thing, showing girls can be tough and boys can be the weaker for lack of better phrasing there that is.
You will really enjoy this book I'm sure.

Solitaire by Alice Oseman

Tori follows her curiosity of the mysterious trail of post it notes to find a computer with Solitaire, a new empty blog open on the screen. Then she meets Michael a new guy before her old childhood friend Lucas also resurfaces.

Meanwhile her brother, Charlie is recovering from anorexia and self harm and we see how protective she is over him as he gets attacked by a bully who Solitaire later ensures gets a taste of his own bullying back.

Through the book, Michael and Toria grow closer while her best friends grow distant and more involved in other plans than friendship until Solitaire progresses. Then she realises, Solitaire or more importantly, who runs Solitaire is trying to talk to her and it's revealed to shows Toria who she can really trust and who cares for her truly.

It was hard to understand the whole concept of Solitaire and their plan overall but it was okay and had some good themes raised with male anorexia and self harm.

The Best Medicine by Christine Hamill

Philip is a twelve year old wannabe comedian. His best friend Ang at school knows he gets targeted by The Yeti, as he calls his bully as well as Ang knowing about Lucy, the girl he likes.

However, when Philips mum starts acting strangely and allowing him to have baked cakes and watch all the Harry Hill he wants to, he starts to realise something is different.

Which is when his mum friend Susie starts coming round more as his mum breaks down and reveals she has breast cancer and faces treatment. Philip is shocked and can't believe it, he writes more letters to Harry Hill with all his issues and doesn't give up.

Then when his mum meets others with cancer, the Harry Hill appreciation society is created as the patients all take off their wigs and also Philip shaves his head to fit in and make his mum feel less alone.

Then something amazing happens and Harry Hill gains a protégée for a performance which makes a dream come true!

I have had relatives close to me suffer with cancer unfortunately and this book is an amazing unique twist on how an idol can keep spirits alive in the face of the unknown to come.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

Set in a diary format, we see into the life of her as she moves home from the set day to day life and finds herself on a downward spiral very rapidly.

After going to a party and being given a drink spiked with drugs the effects influence her to love the thrill and atmosphere which spur her on to leave home and live with her friend as they try to find the next fix day to day. They look out for each other until they decide to go home and get back to normal if they can.

However upon returning to school she faces the drug users turning on her as she becomes a quiet studious girl again breaking away from the drug crowd and choosing to hang out with her boyfriend in the library instead despite all the bulling she's facing from the drug users.

After losing her grandparents merely weeks apart, she winds up in a mental institute against her wishes after she was drugged unknowingly and the police take statements from the drug crowd at her school who convince the police she was pushing drugs onto them.

After getting out, life looks up as her boyfriend returns. Yet apparently as the diary ends, we learn the subject of the book died only three weeks after stopping keeping a diary.

This book shows the dangers of drugs firsthand and the pressure peer's can put on each other creating a stressful environment which may have attributed to her final drug use if it was self inflicted.

7 days by Eve Ainsworth

As the title suggests, this book is set over seven miserable days for Jessica who lives with her mum and younger sister Hollie on an estate. Their mum works as a cleaner and they can't afford new clothes and food etc is sparse. Not just because Jessica eats a lot of the wrong foods choosing a packet of biscuits over toast etc as a meal.
Her dad isn't around but instead is off living a new life with his girlfriend and new baby.
But poor Jessica is in a living nightmare at school, aware of the bullies, Kez, Marnie, Lois and Hannah.
They belittle her and call her fat, Stig because of the state of her, push her and talk about her online in mean ways. At her school, Philip is her friend, Hannah is an old friend from primary days and Lyn knows her from where she used to live. Yet Hannah and Lyn are friends with her bullies too and can't risk being seen with her.

We also see Kez's point of view on the situation and we see how she thinks digs about Marnie. She also doesn't want to he like her mum whom has a drunk abusive husband and loves Marnie and her mum's relationship wishing her and her mum were like that. She's jealous and angry at her life but bullying gives her power.

An upcoming party at Lyn's means the girls hatch a plan against Jessica after Kez sees Lyn and Jess together which results in dangerous situations for both girls.

This is an essential read about the heartbreaking way school can be for some pupils and how bullying can break someone and how they can overcome it.